"This year, Lidl will open at least seven stores in the country, mainly in Sofia, Varna and Plovdiv," said Milena Dragiyska, Chief Executive Officer for Capital.bg.

The company, which has been operating in Bulgaria since 2010, is probably the second largest after Kaufland, with the opening of new sites continuing. Last year the plan was more conservative and three stores were found. The investment in the construction of an object without land is at least EUR 2 million.

On April 22, the company opened a shop in the "Borovo" district of Sofia, created by a "new model for densely populated urban areas". The building has two floors, has over 120 parking spaces, half of which are underground in an underground parking and the commercial part is on 1300 sq.m.

Lidl is part of the German Schwarz-Gruppe and is present in over 25 countries. In Bulgaria the chain started its operations in 2010. Today the company has 88 stores in 46 cities and over 2300 employees.

Lidl Bulgaria is among the top 3 supermarket chains after Kaufland (also part of Schwarz) and Metro Cash and Carry in 2016, and has probably moved to second place. In 2017, the company increased its market share to 7.9% against 7.1% a year earlier, with revenues of BGN 830 million, according to the data provided by the analyst company ICAP.